Lost Canvas, New Paints
by Raven Xanthus
Summary: This world is ours. The Quests are the paints and our actions the shape. Make the best of this Lost Canvas and hope that others look at it in Awe. -Benihime Leader of Lost Canvas- They were a Roleplay guild before and now that the game was real they can't just walk away from the people they created.
1. Chapter 1

He saw the tower and felt the bile build in the back of his throat as he turned into an ally he remembered. The world was overtaken with greenery and what was once was a magnificent city of modern technology was now a ruin with trees shimmering with dew and grass abounding. Oftentimes the trees pierced one building or another in their path to the light and the entire world had a feel of something at once completely unknown and intimately familiar.

Littering the streets were shells of humanity. They were likely Adventurers like he was, but where he moved with some flimsy purpose they moaned and cried.

"What's going on?" An innocent question.

"I've gone insane. Anyone wake me up!" A plea for help.

"What's happening?" A broken sob.

He continued past the sounds of the hollow people and kept moving. The misery gripped his mind and it was all he could do to not break down like all those around him. Suddenly he glanced down at his feet and noted them for a moment.

"Shit," he exclaimed as he tripped over his own feet and managed to slam face first into the ground. For a moment he contemplated just sitting there before he tears himself up. 'I can move in this body, as long as I don't think about my hu…. old one.'

He shook his head and thought back.

He'd been playing Elder Tales. It was actually a long-running game with twenty years of history behind it. Of course over the years various patches updates and overhauls had given it a modern look but the greatest attraction to most was the enormous amount of depth that the game brought forth. Today had been Launch Day for the Twelfth Expansion, The Nova-Sphere Pioneers, and it had been this update of content that had brought out a lot of players all at once. He didn't have any way to prove that theory but he considered it nonetheless even as he checked his Friends List and confirmed that a great deal of them were online. There were over one-hundred thousand players in Japan alone.

He remembered a flash of black flames. A sky of the darkest sort pierced solely by a shimmering full moon, and then nothing. His memory abruptly shifted to when he first opened his eyes, and now he was running through the streets of Iyo with ease that he never would have had if he were still himself.

There was a chime of crystal that told him he had a pending voice call. He concentrated on his forehead like he was tensing to squint without completing the action and a menu came into simi-transparent view. He then tapped the receive call function. It had taken him a good hour of freaking thoroughly out before he'd found this and then another hour to become adept at working the interface.

"Where are you coming from anyway, Raven?" A voice asked as Raven jumped some derelict stairs.

"North Gate," Raven gasped as his old friend, Amidamaru's, voice comforted him and he made the final turn, "came back from a quest-line in Awa." He slowed to a stop to take in the view.

The summer sun shimmered off the harbor and the massive trees and buildings threw into detail everything around him whilst have dark shadows to peek into. He could feel the wind and smell the ocean and it was this overwhelming sense of realism that firmly convinced the young man that he wasn't dreaming. He finally arrived at an open area, once a four-way stop, and saw Amidamaru stand.

Amidamaru was like a ronin out of an old samurai film. He bore a worn mantle of silvery grey cloth over ashigaru armor, light armor often worn by feudal peasant soldiers, consisting of a light breastplate shin and arm guards all done over in crimson. His silver hair had a strange lavender tint to it was always pulled into a top-knot and he had a pair of katana at his hip. He was almost six feet tall and he had a serious expression as if he were taking the new world around them in with his blue eyes and letting nothing go. These were the eyes of the man who shot to create a boogeyman in a videogame.

"Hello, Raven," Amidamaru said as he fell easily back into the role-play that they had been working on for years.

"Amidamaru," Raven replied with a slight incline of his head

Elder Tales had a standard voice chat system; players were able to communicate while playing the game by using speakers and a microphone, like chatting on the phone. Some players didn't like to use voice chat and insisted on text messages, but Raven and Amidamaru were not like that.

That was why Raven remembered and was very familiar with Amidamaru's voice.

Amidamaru.

If anyone asked Raven who was the most reliable person in the game, he would be among the first few choices that came to mind.

Online gaming referred to playing a game through the Internet. Elder Tales was a 'Massively Multiplayer Online' or 'Massively Multiuser Online' game. Several hundreds or thousands of players would be connected to the same game space to play this game. In other words, this type of game allowed players to know many other players, working or competing with each other.

Raven had played Elder Tales for many years, so he knew quite a lot of people in the game. But the people you knew in the game remained in the game. Different people might have different playing styles and opinions, but most people would not reveal their real identity in the game world. With the increase in online crimes after the year 2000, protecting your personal data was common sense for the online community. But that didn't mean you couldn't make real friends. Raven let out a sigh of relief when he heard Amidamaru's voice. While the pair had never met outside the game the things they shared were in ways deeper than what they didn't share.

They might not have met in person before, but they had spent much more time conversing through the game screen than was proper. Amidamaru spent countless nights with Raven in a party, mostly because they had the same trait of never using experience short-cuts because it interfered with experiencing the game, fighting innumerable battles together. He was one of the players in Elder Tales whom Raven was great friends with. They had chatted about so many things under these skies. They even discussed their boring feelings. Amidamaru was completely unlike a friend he only met in a game.

For Raven, this solemn but upbeat tone was as much a symbol of Amidamaru as the character he now stood in.

"This is quite nerve wracking." Amidamaru said simply.

"Yeah," Raven said as he gazed into a nearby water cistern to see his own reflection. His eyes, now violet like his characters, glanced over the deep blue hair that was nearly black and then down at the cloths he wore. Arm and leg guards over dark wrappings with an ebony body glove were the base but the outfit grew from there. A vermillion pence-niz sat on his nose and a set of prayer beads were wound about his left arm. His feet were sheathed in supple leather sandals and he had a jade magatama earring. Over all of this was a cloth jacket that reached his mid-thigh and had azure flame designs embroidered into the sable cloth. As he continued to stare his personal information popped up.

**Raven Xanthus**

**Race: Half-Alv**

**Class: Monk Lv. 32**

**Title: Sage of the Void Lv. 20**

**Sub-Class: Holy Warrior [Templar] Lv. 18**

**Guild: Lost Canvas [Seated-Member]**

He glanced over at Amidamaru and tried to pick up the information that he wanted. He nearly laughed aloud.

**Amidamaru**

**Race: Human**

**Class: Swashbuckler Lv. 32**

**Sub-Class: Man-Slayer Lv. 55**

**Guild: Lost Canvas [Seated-Member]**

"What?" The swordsman asked with a raised brow.

"Only you would manage to have a sub-class that much higher than your actual class." Raven said wiry.

"Coming from the Sage of the Void I have to say," the silver haired man smirked and tapped his weapons at his hip, "that we could forge a new pair of blades with all the irony."

"Hey that Title is really easy to get." Raven said, suddenly finding himself on the defensive.

"Oh," Amidamaru was now having fun with the ribbing, "and how does one get this title."

"Read everything in the library on the tutorial island." Raven said plainly.

"That's really it?" The swordsman asked with sudden shock.

"Yeah," Raven said as he scratched the back of his neck, "no one believes me when I tell them so I tend not to."

"Huh," the silver haired man grunted, "what does it do?"

"First of all it allows me to have the Title and equip another sub-class, some Titles don't do that." Raven explained. "Secondly it allows me to regenerate mana at higher speed, which I'm hugely thankful for because my mana is so low I need every bit of it. Finally I can have multiple Sub-classes, though I can only use one at a time. Switching between sub-classes puts the old sub-class on a cool-down timer. The lowest I've ever see for a cool-down was fifteen minutes, NEET if you're wondering." He shook his head. "Also I have to level a skill up to higher than my own level or ninety, whichever's lower, before I can choose another sub-class or I lose all progress I've made on all my sub-classes, including the progress made on Sage of the Void. I lost three sub-classes when I figured it out."

"Seems like a better form of the Apprentice sub-class, with a few restrictions to keep balance." The swordsman commented then he added. "Wait you have sub-classes that are higher than your level and you were harassing me about that kind thing just now."

"Well," Raven stopped for a moment, ignoring his comment, and turned to the man with a bored look, "there are eight-hundred fifty-eight books, and only eighteen of them actually are manuals. The rest is just loads and loads of fluff and filler that was made to teach about the setting. Most people don't stop at the tutorial for that long." He then shrugged. "I guess the creators were relying on human expediency to keep the Sage of the Void hidden, and it's worked. Had I not been role-playing a half-alv seeking knowledge and spent six and half hours reading through the library I never would have known about it."

"So about how long will it take for you to get back to your Holy Warrior sub-class if you were to switch it right now?" The swordsman asked as they began walking to have something to do.

"About an hour," Raven said shortly with a grimace. "It started out as a solid hour and has lowered about two minutes from all the leveling I've done to the title, which only gains experience by switching sub-classes. You don't even want to know how long it took to get it back to this level after I lost the experience. The amount of time that needs to be committed to leveling this ability up could be its price, in my style of thinking. From my calculations even at level ninety it would only shave a total of nine minutes off the cool-down of any sub-class."

"So," Amidamaru began as they continued to circle the small cistern, "what happens when we die?"

"Wish I knew," Raven firmly kept the spike of panic out of his voice, "best guess is we either die for real or we come back at the Cathedral."

They finally stopped for a moment and both of them sat on mossy rubble. As long as they kept their chat light both of them had the ability to ignore the despair that was clawing at their minds, but just as Raven began to shift the conversation to a more light hearted tone a crystal tone echoed in his mind. He noted that it was a text message before he opened it with a smile. It was from one of the newer role-players that he'd been told to help and he just hoped that he could help her get around any problems she was having.

'Help sempai some bad men have me.' It read simply. A strange sensation sunk into his gut. He suddenly lunged off the rubble and Amidamaru glanced up to see his friend sink his fingers to the second knuckle into a nearby tree, nearly twenty feet away. He then watched as the young man flexed his fingers in their wooden confines sending cracks through the bark before he ripped a chunk straight from the tree.

"Whoever you are," Raven said in a voice Amidamaru instantly recognized as the White Tiger, a persona that Raven role-played when he wanted to make an impression, "if you hurt that girl. I'll test out the Cathedral using your soul."

"Whoa," Amidamaru said as the young man before him slipped a hand into his belt pouch and pulled out a pair of violet potions, "what's up Raven?"

"Just got a text from a friend," Raven said as he downed one of the potions and tossed the other to Amidamaru, "she's in trouble."

Amidamaru didn't even look at the potion as he downed it and nearly coughed it up as it tasted like grape medicine. He dashed after the faster monk as his own body blurred under the effects of the potion. Haste potions increased movement speed and decreased cast and cool-down times by a particular amount. With the speed that the pair were tearing through the town Amidamaru guessed the pair they'd just used were of high quality. Finally they got to a small area outside the wall proper, an area that newer adventurers often used to grind for common materials, often called mats, for production sub-classes to use in their work. The swordsman felt his frown grow as he heard a young woman's scream and a heavy thud.

Raven turned the corner and then his face lost all expression.

"I challenge you all to combat." The sound of the Raven's voice was something that ground at Amidamaru's very being. It was less human and more living ice but it held the emotion of rage and despair that colored the elemental tones oddly. Then Raven blurred so fast that the air cracked with displacement.

Duels were a way to have combat in a safe-zone, but there were protections in place and duels were a way to get around the Royal Guard who would be summoned if violence was had in such places. Most people didn't use the duel system since there was nothing to gain from it unless you had a role-play sub-class such as Gladiator that you needed to level up. No gold was rewarded nor was there experience for besting another player, no matter the disparity in level, so most saw the system as an afterthought, but to role-players the ability to have a tavern brawl was a great way to get into character so people like the swordsman and Raven both used it often enough.

When Amidamaru turned the corner he saw the reason. A young woman lay on the ground whimpering as she reached for her staff. Her crimson pants and white top were thrown about the ground and she had little to no dignity left to hide, so she'd instead focused on getting to her weapon. She didn't have the look of someone who'd gone through a fate worse than death, but she did look like she'd had a close brush with one such fate.

Five men were facing the monk with bemused expressions on their faces. Each of them had the smug look of a man about to get away with some petty revenge or crime. Amidamaru nearly choked on his own bile at that expression.

"Hell no," the obvious leader of the group said, "you aren't getting into a duel with any of us monk. No way we're going to "

"So," the vicious White Tiger's fangs began to show as everything fell into place in Amidamaru's mind, "you will not allow me the pleasure of your battle. I name you all Heretics of the worst sort. My reasoning is the young woman who lay's before you, a priestess sullen by your gaze on her bare flesh." He raised his hand and did something with his menu before a message appeared before the swordsman. Amidamaru chuckled darkly at the notification he'd just gotten.

Back when this world was just a game Amidamaru had chosen the class Swashbuckler because it fit the theme he was going for. Not in the fact that he was looking to be like a pirate or something but in the fact that several of the skill trees of the Swashbuckler involved area of effect weapon attacks and some ranged attacks that he'd wanted to get a hold of. In his hometown there was a story of a samurai who turned traitor and killed his brethren without pause or thought. He'd cleaved through groups of better armed and armored foes with sheer skill and it was this perfection of martial art that Amidamaru had envied so much he'd named his role-play character after that ill-fated samurai who'd stood on a hill of bodies till he died of no wound but of exhaustion.

His sub-class was chosen for similar reasons and he'd become quite well known among the lower leveled Player Killers as the best Player Killer-Killer in the game for the first forty levels. The boons of the Man-Slayer sub-class had made the already lethally built swordsman into a monster worthy of the name given to him, That Which Walks Behind. He was a hunter of men, the most dangerous game, and his sub-class made that permissible as long as conditions were met. Of those conditions was the Contract which allowed him to hunt another Player, even in the safe-zones, if there was an active bounty on their heads. He'd get a bit of gold and all experience from 'taking the head' would go to his sub-class instead of his class, which made it easier to level up than his own class in truth.

Raven had just placed a bounty on their heads and the swordsman kept chuckling darkly as he accepted the contract before he moved through his skill menu. He opened up with an area attack that cut every one of the five men for a single critical hit split between them and then allowed him to appear in the center of the targets.

"Crazy bastard," the leader yelled as the status effect increased his cast-times and he found that he couldn't cast before the swashbuckler began cutting him with his glistening blades that shed the blood like it was so many tear, "you'll bring the Guard down on us for sure!"

"What are you talking about?" Raven said as he helped the girl up and into her clothes. "The Guard only care about Adventurers who abide by the law, and when I dropped that bounty on your heads Amidamaru," he indicated swordsman who was tearing into the men with great gusto, "as a Man-Slayer in good standing has every right to them. He's just trying to get by in a cutthroat world without," the monk's voice suddenly grew gravelly and loud, "raping a girl only eighteen levels into the game like the meat that you are." The monk grinned as his friend finished off one of the men and kept going. "But even the most rancid meat has a purpose. I'll go to the Cathedral and wait for you there. If you revive I tell everyone that such is possible and lift a weight off all our backs." His feral grinned only widened as another of the men died.

"Crazy," the leader said as he cast a healing spell on all those around him that Raven noted was from the Cleric class and therefore foreign to the land of Yamato, "this is still murder!"

"And what you tried was still rape." Raven said as he pushed up his glasses, a useless gesture from when he wore a normal pair. "The only difference between you and I is that I figured out long ago to keep the part of me that was willing to indulge in such things under lock and sealed until it was needed." The Monk let his violet eyes shimmer and he laughed as Amidamaru cut through two of the men at once, killing both. "Sociopaths can be functionally insane, you know. I very much doubt I'll be as lineate in the world of sword and sorcery as I was in that other Shitty Game. This is our New Game, learn to be the heroes like it wants or die as the heroes use you for experience. I truly don't care." Amidamaru finally sheathed his sword as he killed the last man with a vicious combo that Raven recognized from the game. "How'd you do that Amidamaru?" He asked as the silver haired man kept his eyes closed, not willing to acknowledge the crimson tint they'd taken during his battle.

"It just came to me." The swordsman said as he opened his eyes. "Come let's see if the criminals get a reprieve from the death god."

"Is what you said true?" Maya asked as she stepped away from the pair. "Did you mean all that sempai?"

"Depends," Raven said as he waved his hands, "the old world was a Shit Game. This one is better, but still could get bad if we let it. As for my little rant," his grin became completely contrite, "I'm a great method actor and have studied psychology at university since three years ago. For a person with a minor like Political Engineering understanding the human mind is an asset. I was merely scaring them just in case they did come back." His expression then switched to comply serious. "Rape, by my beliefs, is a crime worthy of death and I wouldn't lose sleep if those men really were dead forever. Those kinds of worm are lower than dirt."

With that they left for the Cathedral to await the men when they revived, not noticing the figure standing on a flagpole eight stories above their heads. The figure smiled.

**A.N.**

**So, I'm going to be writing me a story set in this great world of Log Horizon. I was tempted to make the characters high leveled and just focus on world building the Four-land Dukedom, where this is going to be set, but then I thought about the small role-play guild I was once a part of and then I couldn't help it. Lost Canvas was my best of times on an MMO and while it has since disbanded I'm sure there are some of us who still remember those days fondly. These characters are going to be interesting, especially Raven and Amidamaru, and expect some psychological bull-paddies from the Monk as he may or may not actually be certifiably insane. **

**So, here's their equipment since I'm not going to have little pages here and there to show you. It should be noted that the class just tells you how many abilities the items give not how good they are. All that Raven and Amidamaru use are exceptional for their level but if they wish to continue to grow they will have to either put aside such things or learn how to up-grade them somehow.**

**Raven Xanthus**

**Race: Half-Alv**

**Class: Monk Lv. 32**

**Title: Sage of the Void Lv. 20**

**Sub-Class: Holy Warrior [Templar] Lv. 18**

**Believer lv. 33**

**Apprentice [Fire Sage] Lv. 35**

**Guild: Lost Canvas [Seated-Member]**

**Equipment: Raven is a bit of an odd one. His clothes are to both be functional and to help with his RP.**

**Reversal Force Uniform [Crafter Moshe]:**** Clothing suited for a high speed style of combat. A high-level Production Class item that increases the wearer evasion temporarily during the cast-time and cool-down of skills that force the wear into a new position, like Afterimage or Shadow Step. Buffs last longer on the Wearer and Debuffs are shortened by the same amount. This also mitigates some hate-build for DPS.**

**Sacred Bead of the Successor [Quest-Only]:**** An item that can be updated by going through the Quest [Mountain of Trials]. It is currently a high-level Magical Class item after Raven's most recent trip but at level ninety the quest will grant a person who has done it enough times a Phantasmal version. **

**It allows a person to accumulate mastery points faster for skills and experience faster for sub-classes, but since this isn't an enormous thing in comparison most people don't think it is worth the fact that you have to solo a dungeon with a mirror image of your character, plus five levels, at the end as the boss. **

**Necklace of Infinite Souls [Crafter Moshe Event-Only]:**** A Production Class item. A length of one-thousand eighty beads that were forged from the remains of the Great Oni boss of the Festival of Lanterns Event by a Player Crafter who was there for the Event. The beads now lend great spiritual weight to the attack of the wearer and allow the wearer to access the most basic Kannagi exorcism spell [Sharp Edge of Nirvana].**

**[The dark part about this is that one bead is guaranteed to drop after the Great Oni consumes a Soul of the Departed. I suspect that no one will be farming the materials in the future but who knows. As for the Exorcism spell, it is useful but a monk has such a low MP that Raven would literally be taking about 4% of his total mp for this low level spell.]**

**Rose-Colored Glasses [Event-Item]:**** A Magical Class item. This was an item that could be brought back from the Dungeon-World Wonderland and it carries with it a beamish sensation that chases away uffish feelings. Both the effects are list as [?] but Raven knows that it increases his mana pool by a measurable amount.**

**The Fire Sage's Coat [Event]****: An Artifact Class item. Once worn by the Fire Sage during his battles with the oni armies, and said to be the key to his success in holding the pass when adventurers could not.**

**It is also said that it was not the demons that killed the Sage but his own willingness to burn both blood and soul to defend the village beyond the pass. **

**Allows you to use a toggle type ability that makes it so when you use a skill it will use Health instead of mana to do so [Note; This ability is called Inheritance of Willing Flame] **

**Gained from the Sage of Fire after he is slain at Heaven's Pass, to anyone who was nearby and had the apprentice sub-class… what an odd perquisite. Aprentice sub-class is locked to a usually Lander unique sub-classes Fire Sage.**

**Amidamaru**

**Race: Human**

**Class: Swashbuckler Lv. 32**

**Sub-Class: Man-Slayer Lv. 45**

**Guild: Lost Canvas [Seated-Member]**

**Equipment: Amidamaru is focused on Player Killing and his entire set up is for that only. Cursed objects like the Harvester's Array are too useful for him just to put down. After all it doesn't have a special effect.**

**Harvester's Array [Quest]****: The Harvester's Array are a pair of katana whose steel shimmer with malevolent energy. **

**These are cursed swords and place a stacking debuff on the wielder until he hurts another Player, the debuff appears after six hours without hurting a Player. The Debuff lowers evasion and seems to stack infinitely but after the first strike on a Play the stack turns into a buff that increases damage while lowering defense and last in proportion to the amount of stacks of the Debuff the user was under.**

**The main hand sword Sow has a long lasting debuff that makes healing half as effective and the off-hand sword Reap deals additional mana damage proportionate to the amount of damage Sow has dealt up to that point.**

**Theses Artifact class weapons can only be gained by killing the Death God, a Lander Assassin who uses them during battle, and refusing the payment of gold.**

**Vagabond's Cloak [Event]:**** A Magical Class item. This cape is worn by men who wonder the world seeking something. **

**Hides Sub-Class from all but Guild-mates and party members. The stat bonuses are sub-leveled at this point but it has a unique look so Amidamaru likes to wear it. **

**Gained from the [King of the Haunted Hill] PvP event for being the lowest level character in the event.**

**Nameless Armor [Event]:**** A Production-Class item. This armor is worn by those who have hunted down the lawless for their blood instead of gold. Stories are told of men who wear crimson armor become like demons on the battlefield. **

**Buffs the wearer when fighting in another player and Debuffs lower leveled players within an area. **

**It was gained from the [River's Sanguine] PvP for the lowest level character in the event.**

**Precious Dragon's Whisker Hair Tie [Crafter Moshe]:**** A simple cord of Dragon's Whisker can suppress the worst sort of curses. Drastically decreases the effects of debuff.**

**Blood Stained Eyes of a Murderer [Event]:**** They say that those who fought on that Hill were tainted by the amount of killer intent. The people who survived that bloody slaughter became accursed people who lived like angry spirits from one battle to the next. **

**Applies a buff to the wearer for every humanoid foe slain in the last six-hundred sixty-six seconds. Buff increases cast-speed of skills and maximum stacks of it can make even a samurai able to chain moves together as well as monk.**

**Granted to every Player who participated in the [King of the Haunted Hill] PvP event and survived to the end.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Who the hell are those guys?" Someone voiced as they entered the Safe-Zone proper again. Raven nearly allowed his eye to twitch.

"I don't recognize the chick but that's That Which Walks Behind." Another voice tried to keep low but failed.

"Wha," the first voice sounded…. Disgusted, "that's that horrible Player Killer right? The one most people think is a Bot?"

Amidamaru turned to the pair of people and just stared. They flinched back and moved away from his intimidating gaze. The Swordsman then sighed and sagged a little.

"I understand they need something to do," he said after a moment, "but spreading rumors like that isn't good for anyone."

"Well," Raven hedged as he walked closer to the Cathedral, "we'll have good news for them in just a few minutes if the worms come back. Might put a little pep in their step." Then he too sighed and sagged. "Besides, we'll need them soon enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Amidamaru asked as they took the most direct route to the Cathedral.

"Eh," Raven started and then glared at the swordsman, "you don't understand the significance of this area at all do you, Amidamaru?"

"It's a center of some of the most reliable cursed blade drops server-wide and has the most Player verses Player Events. The areas further inland hold content up to," Amidamaru stopped and then grinned sheepishly at the monk's sharp gaze, "but you're referring to the story content aren't you?"

"Yes," Raven said slowly, "to the point the Thirteen Shrines of the Sacred Pattern."

"Ah," Maya suddenly started at the mention of something she'd become familiar with, "that's the quest-line you first let me do when I got here, sempai. You said it was a repeatable quest that needs doing so I should use it to get some levels," suddenly her head came down in embarrassment, "but I stopped doing it when I stopped gaining experience from the quest."

"I understand," Raven said as he took off one of his armbands to expose a strange symbol that he glanced over absently, "the quest is in fact the only thing that keeps the outer wall from falling to the Cursed Ground influence that holds sway outside." He slipped his armband back on and took the opposite off, "If a certain number of players don't donate their time and effort into those quests each day the status of the city will become Contested instead of Safe." He slipped the bracer back on and sighed as he glanced about at the whispering masses in front of the small cathedral. "I can only hope that the players had time to complete it the required number of times because this isn't getting any better. This isn't a Player City and the Cathedral here isn't as safe as I'd like it." He had a dark look on his face. "It'll shut down if the zone goes Contested."

"Did you see that light?" Someone said as the crowd grew more and more energetic.

"Yeah that was definitely the light of a soul coming back. Four or so of them." An older man said in a childish voice as he nodded solemnly. "I've seen it too many times to be mistaken."

The Cathedral doors opened and the would-be rape-gang stumbled out in near catatonic states. One stumbled and fell down the steps. He just stayed where he lay, pathetically kicking at some invisible specter. As Raven passed through the group he muttered to himself.

"So, it's true then," he said as he moved through the crowd, "you really do come back when you die." His words rode the crest of the human wish for hope and began to spread like a great wave. With this he hoped that it would galvanize some players into moving so he nudged the die a little. "Wait a minute. If we come back what does that mean when the Siege starts again." Like magic the ripple spilled from ear to ear changing and morphing but still the message, with so few people, got through. He just hoped it was enough to push the city into action.

"That Which Walks Behind," one of the men said as he pawed at the ground like a child, "it comes for those whose sin has stained their blood." Raven nearly chuckled at the men as they moaned. He remembered the short-stories written on forums about Amidamaru's exploits as a new up and coming Player Killer-Killer, horror stories that always ended with the Player Killer hearing that Phrase to their pleas of 'what are you', and then he noticed that the leader wasn't among them. He marched past the traumatized men, barely concerned with the fact that dying apparently was intensely traumatic, and by the time the men got their shit together most of the people will have gotten the message that he'd told Maya to on the way here.

The Cathedral wasn't the grand hall it was in Akiba but it was a work of art on many levels. With two pools of serene water on either side of a bed-like altar that was used to wake on after the moment of death. The person standing over the leader of the gang wasn't normally there though. Raven stared at the woman clad in swirling shadow as she kept her blade in the leader's neck and slowly pulled his gear off him in a methodical manner. The fact that the blade was buried an inch into the stone behind the man through his neck was disturbing but so was watching the hp slowly drain away as another player pulled his boots off him unbothered. Raven gasped aloud as he saw the tag attached to the cold-blooded person who wretched the blade from the Cleric's neck to turn to him.

**H́͡͠a̸̬̗̝̮̞̘̦̣̤͇̮͕͚̱͈͝ͅs̷̶̗̠̤̦̟̙̞̳̝̬̠͈̝͠͠ş̷̧̛͚͓͙̭̮͞a̕͘͜͏̵̘̟̬̟n̷͝͏̡̟͔̘̗͖̠̱̫͉̮͉̘̝̱̰̹̯̙͉ ̸̛̝̟̼͙͎͚̠͢͝͡I͏̵̨̣̳͕͙͎̟̯̟̫̙̰̻͉͓̲̀**

**Ç̴̴͎̖̪̗͉̩̥̭̬̞̮͓͢l̲̩̞̪̥͓̟̀̕̕͘͝a̵͓̻̺͔͕̹̲͘͟͞s̹͈̮̟̞̺͝͝ṣ̶̡̬̦̖̟̝͍̮̻̰̪̩̭̙͍̖͢͠:̡̢̨͕̤̥̞̻̳͉̪͇͍͘͡ ̵̨͢҉̝͈̺̦͇͖̥͇A̴̡̨̨͔̪̙̗͓̣̭̮̭̦͚͔̻̣̖̥̳̹ͅs̶̬̰̞̀͞͞s͏͇̱̮͓̟̗͕̣͚̖͓̖̹̳̯͇͙͠ͅá̧̝͚͎̻͈͉͍̤͎̫̖͈͇̩͇͝͡s̢̡̛̻͚̺̠̼͙̩̹̟͍̺̣̣̟͞s̷̢͇̩̫̜̱̠͖͎͉̤̣̣̯̹̻̬̝͙͜͟ì̸̧̼̻͍̟̗͠n̖̟͍̤̳̟͔͙̲͔̺̝͔͈̤̝͈̥͠͝ ̛̠̲̩͍͉̱̺̪̀Ļ̴̵̵͎̙̖̬̤͓̲̟̫̫̺͕̯͈̥̗͘v̡͈̞͇̟͍̬̭̥̱̭͍̮̹͉̠͔̺͕͝.̝̬͎̺̱̖̭͎̭͎͕̠̲͢͝ͅͅ ͎̳̩̣͈͘̕9̶̴̙͉̣̯̲͎̠͓̲0̸̸̭̺̩͖͚**

**̞͇̳̳͔̠̠̭͖͉S̶̸̢̧̛̝̮̫̻͙̻̯̪̖͖͈ͅú̴̧̨̪̗̺̦̖̞̬͔͕̱̗̲̟͉̠͈̺̠̩̕b̸̵̴̴̵͔̟̥̟͖̤̭̞̝͎͙͚̣ͅ-̸̶̡͈̫͇̫͇̪̤͙͈̬̦̭͡ͅC̵̞̹͖̫̮̭̝̪̯̬̗͜͞ͅĺ̢̬͇͕̩̙͢҉̴̸̢͓̙͔̺̙̬̱͇̩̺̺̳̼͖͢ͅś̡̩̠̭̦̘͇͉̗͍̭̲̠̫̀̀s̡̥͙̘͚̫̳̪̘͈̳̲̱͓͚̝͟͝ͅͅ:̧̨͍̹͇̗̜͕͞͡ ̷̴̡̝͇͍͙̠̱̮͈͎̥͔͎̞̬̫̼C̛͔̫̭͉͖̺͇̯̪͙͎̮̗̞̲̫̥͡͞u͏̵͝͏̻̺̤̭r̶̯͉̤͍̰̳̀͜͡s̱̜̱̘̤̪̼̪̖̮̜͓̠͈̦̀̕͟e̸̴̝͙ ̼̖̰͉̕B̡̜̠̻̩͚͕̤̳̳̝͉̼̙͇͈̼̯̠͜ͅl̴̢̤ą̷̩͕̞̗̯̱̖̝̤̼͕̱͓͔̦̀͢d̴̤̯̤̦̼͚͙͈̙̜̙̪̫͎͘͜e̶͏̴̖̯̹̘̲̲̞̘̟̘̭̝̜̬̗̜̖̫͈ ̪̫̬̮̪̹̳̪̯͢͟͠͠L̨̛̺͔͓͍̯͕͓̤̯͈͚̳̠̰̺͟ͅv̨͟͏̸̯͍̺̠̥͇̜̫͇̦͈͟ͅ.̵̡͖͇̼̩̘͓͎̖͇͔̣͕̱͡ ̷̧̱̼̺̖̬̮̠̩̟̭̟̫̗̝̰͓̞̬9̡̙̬̜͙͓͍̺͕͉͔̥͙̭̭͙̕͟ͅ0̴͉̖͙̱͚̖̣̪̲̦͇̭̘́͠**

**G̵̟͎̻̺̬̭̠̥̼̝̘̀͠ų̢̟̪̫̤̬̳̼̩̮̯̭̼̫̝̤̫͜i̶̡̢͓̪̺̱̟̙̹̮̭̟̞̟͍͜͞ĺ̶͈͈͇̫͞d͝͏̙̖̱̦͔͔͍̰̫̟̪͠͞ͅ:̴̗͚̙͇̱̖͚̼̣̫͓̤̠̼̫̀͜ͅ ̶̷̡̧̮͇̘̣̹͓̟̺͟À̩̮̺̗ĺ̛̙̪͉̜̹̹͘͢͡l̤̻̬̗ T̨̻͍̝̰̟̯̟̰̣̣͈͔͚͚̱̖̩́͞h̝͙͉̜̖͍͟͡͠è̛̠̣̫͔̼̯̮̹̩̙͔̖̗̻ ̷̰̺̭̻̠͎̣̯̗͎͝͡Ẃ̵̡͎̲̭̪͔҉̷̧͖̫̭̯̤͙̜̻r̤̼̬̯̭̩̱̝̯̘͖̬̤̣͎̥̜̕͠͠͡l̛d͟͝͏̗̥̳͖͉͍̦̝ͅ'̨̡s̜̻͓̭̼̺̰̗̝̝̤͎̹̬͜͞͝ ̵̵̖̺̤͔̗̫̗̱̜͚̮͕͍̱͈̗̺̀͜Ę̤̗͈̘̕͟͟v̡̞͍̫̮͇̳͇͉̪̞̙̬̙͕͖̰̱͉́ì͏͟͟͏̯̘̳̯̪̠̥͇̻̥̗̮̼ͅl̨̡̼̩̲̫̻͓͕̙̜̩͍̫̞ͅs̀**

The monk grunted at the distortion that seemed to corrupt the screen into a near incomprehensible mess. He gasped as a half-dozen status effects popped up and his mana drained faster than his newly increased cast-times could get a skill off. He glanced away from the woman swathed in oily shadows whose blade was now pointed at him and then he noticed the Cleric was screaming for aid.

"…." The Cleric's voice wasn't there the Monk noted that the man shouldn't even be able to make a sound. He was under about three dozen status effects, all of which seemed to be curses, and the silence was the least of them. The least dangerous by far was the Brand of Heresy a symbol that a Templar had cursed the man as a heretic and seen to it that his healing magic wouldn't work for hours, but that Raven had himself placed on the man. The rest were simply able to paralyze the man because they drained every last drop of his stats but left his hp alone. The curses would stay on a soul as it went through resurrection, as shown by the Mark still holding strong, but the way these were set up the man would be dying once every eight minutes for the three hour.

"̨̫̹͎ͥͧO̧̠̹̝͂̈́̄ͮ͐͝n̡̛̬̼͙̳͓͚̳̜̈̄̏͢e̹͔̞͎̳̜̰ͤ́̇ ̨̙͙̺̲͓̳̈́̓̓͗ͫͯ̇ͫc̢͇̮͉͙̘̗̖͒̈́ͮ̉͑͂͑̚a̧̜̟͎̰̭̤̮ͫͫͧ͌͗̾͊̊ͅn̖̬̂ͯ͐̑̚n̸̴̥͉̬̲̞̞̰̋͋̇ͩo̱̭̣̪ͮͫ̈́̌ͨ̃ͯṭ̸̬̯̠̙̜̯̏̏̌ ̣͚ͩͫS̸̨͈̮̞͕̘͚̻̖ͬͯ̑ͩͭ̓͆̈̚͠t̵̶̠̥̲̯̖̰ͮ͊͢ͅa̸͎̯͉͇̮͖̮̳ͭ̉ͧͭͤͧ͢i̵̫̟̪͉̠͙̱ͦͮͧ̑̏̏n̗͙͔͓̋͋̓ͯ̕͞͠ ̵̘̟͓̳͎͔̙ͯ̒̿͗̓̕ť͔͓̬̻̞̺̫̔͢͞ͅh̴̲͎̆̍̋̅e̴͈̗͓͈͇ͧ́͡ͅ ̗̺ͪ̓̐̓̓͌͘S̡͇̩̰̣̼̦̏h͔̻͉̗̘͔̊̾ͫ̎ͭảͦd̢̡̟͆̽̒̐ͫ̅͐̆ͨͅ҉͚̠͈̰͇̹̪ͨͨ̃w̪̹̳ͬ́ͤ͞s̤̩ͨ̈́͞.̴̲͎̲̟̰͚̟̐ͯ̍̾ͯͮ̄͡͞ͅ" The woman whispered something and a strange distortion took her voice and twisted it into something else. Then she was gone, body blurring under the effects of some movement technique. Raven felt something near sympathy for the man and then his mind blurred with rage as he remembered the man's actions earlier. He remembered this man almost astride Maya as she cried and the almost wish to help was instantly covered up by blood red rage.

"If anyone asks you why, tell them you deserved it." With those last words the monk gathered his shattered composure and left the place. He opened his menu and then scrolled through his friends list till he came upon a simple name. The other saw that he was on his menu and kept to the side. He was grateful for both their comfort and the multiple curse breaking spells of a Kannagi as a confused Maya ritually purged the evils that had taken root in his soul. It took minutes before his call was answered.

"Not a good time to be calling, Monk." The man said as Raven sighed nearly hearing a woman on the voice chat sighing as the Acting Leader of Lost Canvas turned to his guild. The man was an incorrigible playboy and it was often his role-plays with various women in game that turned an unfavorable eye onto their guild. "What's gotten you're cool off. You sound like you just met all the Kings of Chinese Hell at once."

"Worse," the monk said as he walked through the streets towards the guild-house, "All the World's Evils are here. As in within Iyo at the Four-lands Dukedom." Amidamaru suddenly looked ashen as his solume calm was shattered by hearing that news. Maya just looked confused as she waited for her cool-downs so she could chip away the last of the debuffs on Raven.

"Are you certain?" Shadow asked suddenly tense. "It could have been a copy-cat."

"No," Raven shook his head even though it wouldn't help, "that strange distortion accessory they have that cloaks them is much worse in real-life. It was like looking into a maelstrom of shadow and oil, and my eyes hurt from looking at it. It still affects even their status screens, though I'm certain that it was a Hassan." He knew better than to assume that it was The Hassan with that Guild. Most likely it was an underpowered Assassin with the Kagemusha [Body Double] Sub-Class maxed out. Even with all effects at nine percent their original The Hassan was well known for being second only to the Guild Leader of All the World's Evils in the Curse-Blade sub-class, though to tell the truth the Guild-Master was so swathed in mystery that the only thing that rock solid known about him was that he had a Title and something that allowed him to maintain two sub-classes.

"Shit this is huge," Shadow huffed out a breath and then collected himself, "get to the Guild Hall quick and into the Guild proper. If they're still after Benihime then they'll gun for you."

"I'm already there." Raven answered as he opened a door and let the pair in before he ducked in himself. "What the hell are we going to do Shadow?"

"Give me a while to think about it," Shadow said in a voice that told that he felt out of his depth, "I…. just don't let them get you."

"I'll try my best," Raven said as he flopped down into a huge bean-bag chair. "They're the best at this that I've seen. Whoever she was she was using the skills like they were a part of her. I haven't even figured out how Amidamaru did that during a fight yet."

"They're not the best kind of people, but they have always been damn good about adapting to the world when it changed." Shadow mused. "That doesn't stop them from taking their Villain persona too far. I'll be in contact. My best advice would be to see if the Puppet-master still runs his Bot-Shop. If you can get a Body-Double of your own you can foil their attempts to track you down at the least."

"Alright I'll look into that." Raven said and then swiftly was left with only Maya and Amidamaru to answer to.

"So," Amidamaru said with a troubled tone coloring his solemn voice, "All the World's Evils persists even after all we did."

"Excuse me," Maya cut in before Raven could speak, "but could you tell me what's going on? How did you get all those curses, Sempai?"

"It's a long story." Raven waved to the other seats and waited for them to get settled in before he began. "It started out just after the MMO Elder Tale went World Wide. Seventeen years ago Benihime, our Guild-Leader started the game and began her story, Crimson Princess of the Martial Forest using events she played out here in Elder Tale as her inspiration. She took a long view and worked with the fluff writers under a shell company. Many of the Elder Tale novels were co-authored by Benihime and as such she's kind of a big thing among the older Player-Community. Eventually she deleted her old character, about nine years ago now, and created a new one using her old name, Benihime." He chuckled lightly and pulled himself to full posture.

"She created the new character as a sort of reincarnation of the old one using better knowledge of the world. After that she began partying with a group and about five years ago they founded Lost Canvas. Our guild was built around something that Benihime loved, Role-Play, and it was with that that she passed each of us a job, a duty to craft an incarnation worthy of her books." Raven stopped for a moment and took a sip of his tea to note that it was the same tasteless flavor as the potion, only warm this time. "During her travels you could say that Benihime had gathered a bit of notoriety. She was immortalizing her own character with her writings and while many people did the same with the forums she had a talent for the complex adventures of old and wordplay. One of her chief villains was not a part of the game, however. She'd never met the Source of All the World's Evils in game until a few months after his first appearance in her novels." He shook his head. "The Source was a man enraptured by Benihime and thus he decided to make her works all the better by adding another element of suprise to the system which she'd gotten used to. He crafted and role-played a Villain of unredeemable evil. He then rose in his ability to the point where he created All the World's Evils, a Guild. Over the last nine years he has never stopped being the Villain and his Guild is more of a Cult than anything else. Benihime thought of the entire thing as one massive joke but these people need help, preferably help with lots of drugs."

"Why," Maya asked innocently, "if their only helping her make her story then what are they doing wrong?"

"They don't stop at just those who are in on the story." Amidamaru said suddenly. "They drag everyone into it. I joined Lost Canvas after refusing to join theirs, just to keep away from anymore of their recruitment campaigns." He shuddered. "They don't know when to quit and have no boundaries. I'm assuming they visited Raven in the Cathedral."

"Lots of people have been manipulated by them over the years." Raven said and then he turned to Amidamaru. "It was just a Hassan; I doubt the Source of All Evil would be here when Benihime is on the Chinese or West European Servers right now. He'd never be that far from her."

"You are right." Amidamaru said as he tried to scrub his arms with his hands. "He wouldn't want to be anywhere but near her. His obsession is so deep I have no doubt that he'll be nearby while she's going through her quest."

"What about their offer makes you like this?" Maya asked as she stared at the swordsman. Who was visibly trying to calm himself.

"The Source was trying to recruit him." Raven answered for his friend who still disliked talking about the subject himself, though he'd gotten quite good at letting someone tell it by proxy.

"He offered to take Amidamaru out for a night of fun. Player Killing and such and Amidamaru was all for it but at the end of it he asked if Amidamaru would check his door." Raven nearly pushed his glasses up but stopped himself from doing so as it hurt with Pince-Nez and then he went to his other tick of pushing his hand through his hair. "Amidamaru found a young woman, naked, outside sleeping on his doorstep. He pulled her in and was surprised to find out that he had sent her to him as a present. It's frightening how devoted the people under that man are but we only found out about the person behind the screen a while ago." He combed through his hair and got up to pour himself some tea from the set.

"Amidamaru took two years to get the courage to tell us what happened and then we went to the Administrators but they couldn't do anything without an in-game reason and the young lady was there of her own will, so the police weren't willing to do anything other than give her a stern talking to. When we describe All the World's Evils as a cult we aren't kidding around." Maya looked horrified. "After finding that out Benihime chose to stop writing entirely for a while, to reassess the situation. She quit Elder Tale as well. It was a nightmare, but as soon as she did all this All the World's Evils went silent. That was a year ago. Everyone agreed that a year was long enough to remake the guild and return to the game. It seems that was what Angra Mainyu was waiting for. We've only been playing again for about six weeks but his agents are once again on the move. With all this I have no idea what his newest plot will be."

"They normal mode of operation," Amidamaru began, "is to instigate Events that are negative to players. Here Iyo they once had all thirteen shrines Kannagi Lander's assassinated. It was the first time in years that the city switched over to Contested." He pulled a small set of beads out of his pouch. "Even fighting in contested lands is hard. The land is filled with an evil miasma that debuffs you and lowers your ability to fight, and the Cathedral is inactive as long as the zone is Contested. Thankfully the event was handled well and we all managed to get by but we'll need to be better prepared if it happens again. The Kannagi like you will be fine but people like me and Raven need a little blessing to fight off the miasma. Those beads on his arm and this right here are a good start, but I doubt they'll hold the monsters off." Amidamaru sighed. "The Goblins and Kobolds of this land are the least of our worries. The true threat will always be the Angry Spirits and worse which roam the accursed lands."

"Welcome to the Four-land Dukedom." Raven said with a bitter grin. "Home to the Twelve Color Rebellion and the Demon Festival of Suzakumon Raids. Oh and I'm going to pass out now that we're somewhere safer and I don't have to look like I know everything." And with that he slammed into the ground after pitching forward in a dead faint.

Elsewhere a crimson haired fox-woman sheathed her blade and looked at the small hill of corpses that she'd made in her efforts to familiarize herself with the system under which she was now placed. Her grin couldn't get any bigger as she and four others gathered together to stare at the mountains before them with feral anticipation.

On one of those mountains stood a man whose very body was bare of all but leather pants and a trench-coat of similarly dark leather. His body, fit to the extreme, was tattooed with sigils and odd symbols. Bone loops were braided into his hair and his face was a twisted thin smile that seemed to reach behind his eyes and twist at the emotions within.

**Å̫̠̞̖̦̦̊͠ṇ͍̮̋̍ͤģ̬̮͒͢͞r̙̪͚͖̗͓̰͔̾͐͐ͦ̾̚͟ḁ̬ͭ͌ͮ͝ ͍͕͖͙̯̥̭̩͚́͒̓̅̇͘M̶̷̨̘̪ͫͮ̉̄a̧̙̜̦ͪ̀̀̌̀ì̝̠̲̲̠̝̙̃̒ͥ́͜͢n̢̟̲ͦ̔yͮ͌ͨͦ͏̸̗̝͍ų͍͉̞̣͓̠͈̉̕͟**

**C̥͇̦̍̎̎̀͞ḽ̢̢̞̤̙̥̠̱̂ͣͥ͌̾ͮ͜a̵͍̩̳̙̒̽͂ͣ̍̚ş͈̲̽̌͡͠s̙͔̬͉͌ͣ͌͋̋̚̚͟:̥̘̩̂͒̌͢͜ ̞̰̩̤̞ͤ͗̉̅̊̋ͣ́͝Y̛͍̥ͪͤͅo̳̭̝͖̳ͤ̅ͦ́̒͗ͯ̔͆͜͟uͪ̓̾̓̐̒͒̔͡͏̢͖̻̲̭̦̘̤x̢̱̝̏̽ͪį͖̥̫̈́̄ǎ͈͈̗̦͔̄̆̿**

**̡̬ͮ͂̀́Ṯ̭͔͚̦̖̥̗͌̒̑ͨ̆͜͞i̢̺̞ͨͤ́́t̩̹̲͖̯̾ͥ́̉̈̌̀ļ͙̻̌ͪ̆ͣ͐̍͞e̫̲̠̘͗̽̄̚:̷̡̘͔̯̣̲̼̻̹́͆̎̚͟ ̵̫͔͂̒͒̊͗͛͑̔̕Ą̛̰̬̺̦ͤͫ͂̎̔̐̀l̨͖̣̤̎͝l̹̬̂̉̐͢͡ ̶̡͇͔͇̙̯͙̬̥ͬ͋ͤ̀͑̏t̠̾̽͌͌͠h̴̴͉̞͙͎̪̲͂ͬě̛̛̳͇͙̪̱̏ͩ̄͒̂̚͘ ̝͍̣̘̳̞̭̥͚̌̿ͣ́͗̇W̓̄ͬ͡͏̥͎̥͍̦̼̮͇ǒ̮̏̅͆ͧ̍͂ͫr͚̣̫̙̾͒͐ͨͯ̈́ͦ̕͠l͚̟͉̯̖̻̝̬ͣͩͮ͊̑͑̀͠dͯ̅̈ͬ̄̚͢'͖͉͂̒͊͊ͧ̐ͤ͟s͉̳̘̜͔̋̂̓̎ ͍͈̣͔͎͔̒ͪ̑̔̐̓̚̕ͅE͙͕̫͂ͯ́͝v̷̵͎̖̝̤̤̾̀i͓̠ͥ̑̒̓ͦ̿͛ͦ͟lͮ̒͊̓s̓ͩ͢**

**̛̣̦̥͔̠̩ͮ̈͊̍̈ͧ͜S̵̅̓̀̑҉̷̧̧̻̞͔̹̦͓̦ͣ̒ͅb̄ͫ́̕͏͏͕͙͈̪̫ͅ-̛͔͔͓͒C͖̻ͨ́lͬ̇ͩ̉̎ͤ̐ǎ̶̡͕̳̙̞̤̣̖̹s̸͍̲̩͙ͮ̿̓ͨ̚͘s̩͕̮̺͖̭̊̄̎̓͛͊͛̂:̗̦̤ͣ͒ͧ͠ ̶̰̤̦͍ͪ̆͘D̰̲̥̘͈̪̯ͧ̇͑̈ͅe̵̛̜̦̿ͭ̽̊̓ͧͫ̀ṃ̰̝͈̱ͭͮ̐o̧̡̺̯̗̼̲͑̏ͣͪ͗͂͘ͅn̗̜͙̯̰͖ͩ͋ͦͮ ̨̪̣̆̐́L̶̸̮͉̪̺̬̟̠͗̃̾͐͆͋̒͊ö̧͕̮̜̯̘͍̪́ͪͬͥͭr͙̺̠͆͐̌͌͗͂̐̚͜͠͝ḋ̯͚̂͜͝ ͈̥̦̓͑ͭ̍͛ͪ̃L̶͍͔͚̮̣̹̙̆͐ͭ́ͮv͕̣̥̼͈̱͒ͧ.̛̜̬̪̩̦̩̗̑̉̓ ͙̠̝͕̎̿̊ͤͭ̑ͣͩ̀͘͢9̡̝̺͉̺̳͒ͭ̂͐̂0͚̫̅͐̇ͩ**

**S̺̫̟̪̃͠u̷̪͍̳͓̙̱̜ͩ͒̒̀̍̃̚b̶̡̧̘̮̱̭̥̫̮̖ͦ́͑̋͐̇ͭ͛-̹̤͍́ͥͥ̀͢C̥̱ͮͯ̏͘ͅl̛̲̹̘̮̘̠͒͞ḁ̵̸͍̞͈̝̟̻̓͗͆͌̕ṥ̛̳̱͙̲̲͔͚͐̊ͪ́͟s̛͇̼̞̲̀̈ͭͧ̓ͮ̊͌̕:̣͚͕̩̭͓̫̖̉̀͒͑ͪ̀͆̌ ̸̖̮̬̗͓ͪ͗͂̏̓̄̄ͧ͢͞C͙͇̎͐ͨ͑͢͢͠u̻̞̣̹̞̺̤̝ͦͯ̄́r̸͉͈̦̣̳ͣͯ̅̒ͣ̉́ͫ̂͟s̷̤̹̗͎͕͉̻̔́e̡͍̬̙͚̩̗̠͊̅ͣ̅̐̔͑̃̽̀͢-̻̤͎͕̲̎̉ͭ̈̒͟B͚̤̂̾̀l̛̉̂̑ͫ̎ͦ̔̚҉̧̮̪͍̗a̴̅ͣ̍ͦ̓̒͛͏̘͉̣̤d̷̡͕̹͕̘̭̣͉̠́̓̋e̦͍̓̈͑͋̉ͧ̋̚ ̸̢̝ͭ͛̓̔̌̿̇͑L̴̪̱̗̈́͒͆̎̏v̩̙̫̠͙͈̘̝̓͗̊̉͛͘̕.̛̟̘ͥ̅̇ͧ̌͐͛ͦ̀͞ ̶̡̗̒̎̽̏̇ͮͧͪ͜9ͤ͏̣̹̠̫̱̬͍̺͜0̷̛̫̖̭͎͔͎ͮͧ̅̔̔̉̈́͠**

A monk fell to the ground with a pair of dagger in his eyes. The courtyard was silent save a slow savage sound and someone's screams. After a while the screams became whimpers and then pleas for mercy and death. The savage sound continued into the night.

Raven awoke to an alarm going off in his head.

**Notice: As of 0900 hours the city of Iyo has become Contested.**

**Notice: As of 0950 hours the City of Iyo has declared a state of War**

**Notice: Twelve Color Rebellion Event-line active.**

**A.N.**

**Day one finally over and I'll just say that this is going to be a fun write up. Oh and about the train, well, breaks are out I'd think. Seems like Raven and a lot of people are going to have their hands full.**


	3. Chapter 3

"A well thought out plan if I've ever seen one." Raven said as he sipped on the tasteless beverage. Amidamaru was out pulling some items from his bank and Maya was preparing some tea in the traditional manner to calm herself. She glanced at him inquisitively so he continued. "Had the quest-line simply failed outright we'd have been in horrid situation, but with the Rebellion in full swing some of the Landers are 'turning out'," he made the air quotes with his hands, "to be Rebels and have levels around the norm for adventurers in a level thirty raid, some will even have unique sub-classes like The Untouched and The Azure Lightning." He glanced up as the door opened and allowed a person swathed in a cloak to enter. He flicked his hand and a menu appeared before him then he went through it quickly to raise the privacy levels of the guild.

"Raven Xanthus of Lost Canvas, if I may ask?" The voice was old, weathered and had a gritty undertone that had the monk trying to position himself between Maya and the cloaked man. The man's cloak was open enough to note the lack of weapons and the heavily stained overalls that had seen better days a few years ago. His face was a mass of shaggy grey and his eyes had the sharp brown of black walnut. His face seemed to be purposefully schooled into a visage of distaste, though how Raven was able to note that he couldn't place. Stripes of silvery calligraphy were delicately placed along his brow.

"Puppet-master," Raven said as the man took a couple of steps to the table and shot a cup of tea before tossing the cup into the wall to splinter into a dozen shards, "life here not to your standards?"

"Bah," the man didn't even concern himself with politeness as he flopped into a bean bag, "you wouldn't even believe what I've been going through."

"Enlighten me, master of puppets," Raven said smoothly and he felt the transition to The White Tiger and all of his worries abated as a completely natural calm settled over his shoulders," how your day in this world has been any more ill than the impeding siege has anyone else."

"Oh," the man known to all as Puppet-Master was a shrewd information dealer and a dealer in exotic goods and services, "I now have about eighty daughters who think the world of me and gladly don the faces of men and women who would rather not get assassinated right now." The older man gained a dangerous glint to his eyes. "Your Guild is scattered to the four winds, so what are you doing calling me like this Raven. Benihime is the only reason I've even considered it."

"Well," Raven began as his words came smooth and with an ease he barely doubted, "I have need of your daughters' unique skills," he almost thought that the old man was going to go into a another rant so he cut him off, "I need their all their skills. Including the less known ones."

"Hmm," the older man suddenly moved ending up over the table between the pair and himself and behind Maya there was a clack like a crab's claw closing but different Raven instantly recognized the hate management technique as Trinket Walk, "what makes you think I'd do such a thing. I've got to think about the kinds of enemies that you've made, not just Benihime's." Trinket Walk allowed the user to fade from existence at the cost of the lowest cost item they possessed; Assassins who liked to use it often carried vendor trash such as scarves or cloaks to throw away at a moment's notice. Raven turned his eyes from the empty cloak and to the man who'd once worn it.

**Puppet-Master**

**Race: Race of the Ritual**

**Class: Medicine Man Lv. 70**

**Sub-Class: Puppeteer Lv. 73**

**Guild: The Shadow Play**

"I have no ties to the Lost Canvas, boy." Puppet-Master said as he lifted his eyes up her body in a quick scan. "Is this one of your works?" He glanced over the young woman even as she moved as quickly as she could to Raven with an indignant squeak. "Kannagi, build is focused on recovery type magic and barriers, but she's unique. Yes, most definitely your work, Raven. You always were the one to play with the Sub-classes." His gaze was glued on the information that hung in the air before him.

**Maya-Kio**

**Race: Human**

**Class: Kannagi Lv. 18**

**Sub-class: Artificer Lv. 10**

**Guild: [None]**

"Yeah," Raven said with a calm that stunned the elder man even as he unraveled his wrappings on his arms, "but she was the one who found out that she could produce her own ofuuda and such."

"Ofuuda," the elder managed to gasp out before the a pair of paper slips started to glow brilliantly as Maya activated the Binding Magmata spell twice remotely and circles of spiritual beads suddenly bound the man's arms and legs, "ah!"

"The world is falling apart around our ears and your being stingy with your resources because they call you father?" the White Tiger spoke and suddenly the man was a hostage to the monster before him. "The War has begun and the city must decide which Lord it will support, which they'll do without Adventurer input. Then when the city is razed to the ground all that you've built will fall with us and it isn't going to come back. Just like I'm the last shard of the Fire Sage there will only be ragged shreds of this place left in the Twelve Lords wake."

"What do you need?" Puppet-Master asked.

"From you?" The White Tiger replied. "Nothing, you've shown that you don't want to comply with us and a person taken in under duress will only stay as long as such duress is if they are under the threat of more duress and I will not do such a thing." The monk sighed. "I needed your information network and the use of your body doubles but you've gone and changed so I'll just have to deal with All the World's Evils without such aids."

"I didn't think it's that bad." The old man said as the binding broke. "There haven't been any outstanding reports."

"You've always been blind to the future with all your attention on gathering information." Raven said suddenly. "My ploy to make the resurrection a good thing is going to go the other way, now that the Cathedral just shut down we might die for real. The Rebels will recruit anyone and then the city will become even more fractured as sides are chosen. Finally, when the Twelve Color Rebellion gets into swing we're talking a continuous Siege for the next week or worse if this world has time like Elder Tale did." He could see the information broker shuddering at the new Intel. Gears turned thought moved fast. Then something clicked in his head. "Oh, and tell your father I said hello."

"Ah," the elder suddenly said in a dull woman's voice before his figure became hazy, "so you figured it out." Then the image sharpened back into a woman in form-fitting armor with a ninjato along her spine and a kunai holster on her left leg. "What gave me away?"

**NU-13**

**Race: Half-Alv**

**Class: Assassin Lv. 38**

**Sub-Class: Body Double Lv. 80**

**Guild: The Shadow Play**

"Your father never…." The monk stopped for a moment and then sighed, "He's using that Skill of his To Ride Another's Horse on you isn't he."

"Ah, yes." Nu-13 said with a blush.

"Puppet-Master, always with these head-games." Raven sighed. "Right, you know the situation now tell me your answer, old man."

"Father says," Nu-13 started, "that the show must go on. He will provide the props and you will need to provide the players if you're going to go through with this play."

"Not full support but he'll hold up his end of the game." Raven said before he tossed a bag into the woman's lap, "Don't use skills outside those you've learned from your Face while still in the Face. It ruined your father's ploy. You're still learning so I think he'll be leant but be more careful." He scowled at the name tag. "Noble Unit," he muttered, "so you're one of the Hime-Miko, right?"

"My most common Face has been Princess Misato of Awa for the last thirty-six years," the young woman said with a nod, "it will be a trail now that all of us have been called back for father to give us new instructions."

"Probably another plan of his. Just like this was a test to see how long he could keep you, a Body Double with no experience outside of social settings, under that disguise whilst under my nose." He stared at her until she shifted uncomfortably. "Puppet-Master has always been a scamming bastard but he's no true villain. News flash old man, All the World's Evils is active again and they're constructing another plot to test Benihime against. Remember the last and chose your fights."

"Oh shit," an elderly man's voice said suddenly from the woman's mouth, "they're here and continuing their plans. The last time they did something this big it got…."

"Out of hand…." Raven said quickly glancing at Maya. "We'll leave it at that."

He turned as the door opened to admit Amidamaru who walked in and sighed as he noted the additional lady.

"I would have thought he'd be polite enough to come himself." He said as he placed several items out of the bag he'd been carrying. "I got everything I'll need, Raven."

"I'll never leave my Theater in such a climate." The elderly man's voice said.

"Oh dear Kami that's disturbing." Amidamaru said as he sat down and pulled out a set of blade sharpening tools and then he began to touch up his swords at a slow meticulous pace. "Alright now that you've been told how horrid it is what are you going to do hermit?"

"I can't let another fiasco like last time go down now that we're in this world." The old man responded through the youth, "I'll just have to deal with you younglings being my allies."

"Thank Kami," Raven said as he finally let the White Tiger go, "I thought we were doomed for a moment there. The Twelve Color Rebellion can be as dangerous Demon Festival is left unchecked. This rebellion will build and build without end because of the fact that this is one of the only events I've ever seen bosses gain levels in. Sure they start out weak, somewhere in the mid-forties but they'll grow like a player will with each battle. Without the proper tools we're all fucked."

"We'll aid you, but do you have a plan?" The elder asked.

"Well…" Raven hedged as he mulled over his thoughts. "To restore the Shrines should be our first objective, which takes a quest-line that'll take us to Awa, a place I have high reputation in. I'd planned to use that reputation as a foundation to create ties to them. They've got an immensely specialized market, mostly for the Kannagi and such, but I've found that the most unique little things are sold there, like Amidamaru's Dragon's Whisker, an item that lowers the effects of debuffs. I'm hoping that with the two cities allied that it'll be easier to station one Lord over the others from them having two of the larger cities at their hand."

"Do you think it'll work?" The elder's voice sounded as skeptical as the looks Raven was getting.

"Not really," Raven said morosely, "but I have high hopes that worst case we can get an informal alliance with the Magic Association who controls Awa. If we can manage even just that we'll have some of the locals to call on for aid and not have to worry about their motives." Raven held up a hand as the elder man began to speak through the assassin. "The Adventurers always have been a benefit to the People of the Land even when we fought among ourselves. The People of the Land have no reason to alienate us now that we act differently."

"What about your little tower, White Tiger?" the older man asked and Raven fought his flinch down.

"I earned it in that event," Raven said as he pushed himself off to start towards the door, "and spent months earning the gold to get it running again. It'll take up its old duties, and I'll hire a few Landers to maintain it."

"What tower?" Maya asked sounding lost in all the high-tension conversation.

"Don't you know lass?" Puppet-Master asked through his host as Raven left without another word. "Your mentor there is one of the only men I know of that owns a large swath of that cursed land outside the inner wall. There's a quest-line that involves learning an entire martial arts from scratch and when the skill was taken all the way to Hidden the reward was a Tower in the middle of the Ten-Thousand Battlefields." The Kannagi blinked slowly and took another long sip of the tea, having served another cup while the talk had dragged out. "I hope that he can find a way to constructively use the thing."

"Oh." She mumbled as she mulled over the man who'd earlier this month been teaching her the foundations of being a support of larger groups. She thought back to the man whose only focus was to make her into a great asset so that she could stand on her own feet. His avatar couldn't have shown it but she knew that all her actions put a smile on his face from the tone of his voice during those lessons. This serious side of the man seemed out of place and seemed to fade in and out without any real cause other than tension. "Is he breaking?" she asked the knowledgeable man.

Raven was stopped as soon as he was a few hundred feet from the guild hall. It was, surprisingly, not another player but a Lander who stopped him. She had the look of a woman who'd seen long years at a brothel, all grace and refinement with just a touch of sexuality that spoke of a matronly woman. Her skin was milky and without flaw even as she perspired from the slight jog she'd gone into when she'd spotted him. Her hair shocked him, as there was no way that light salmon pink hair should look so natural. He licked his lip as he noted the woman and couldn't help but stop as she rushed over to him. He recognized her, but still automatically scanned her status window.

**Tamamo-no-Mae**

**Race: Fox-Tail**

**Class: Sage of the Five Terrestrial Elements Lv. 48**

**Guild: Iyo Branch Magical Association [Second Seat]**

"Oh, thank the Kami," she said as she panted and then calmed herself, "I found you."

"Ah," the monk made a sound of surprise before the Tiger slid into place again as he fell into patterns ingrained into the body he now wore, "I did not know I was being sought Lady Tamamo."

"Of course I'd come for you." The woman said as her ears twitched with irritation and then she suddenly blushed. "I mean you are the Inheritor of the Willing Flame. As the Fire Sage of Heaven's Pass you must attend the Magical Association's meeting."

"I was unaware that my status was so important." He replied as he began to walk alongside the woman who huffed. He understood that he had a reputation; after all he could check his reputations via his menu to keep up with tangled web of benefits that he'd slowly been building up from various quests. While he regretted that he could no longer have a chat with multiple people he was thankful that he'd not lost this vital part of his support structure. Now that he thought about it he really needed to see if party chat could circumvent that or if it was a solid road block that he'd have to get around to get the sort of effectiveness that was expected in a party dungeon, much less a Raid or heaven forbid a Legion Raid. He was pulled back to the present as the woman started to speak.

"Oblivious Adventurer," she muttered and then she began to walk towards the harbor area, "you're the only Adventurer Sage in all the Four-Land Dukedom, and twice named as such at that. Of course the Magical Association wants you to represent the Adventurers." She finally arrived at a squat building just off the Harbor District proper. "Here we are. Not as fine as your Guild Hall, but it has done us well in the past three decades."

He entered the main room and noticed a dozen or so Landers of various classes. Everything from Magus to Magic-User was represented as they glanced over to him when he lifted his hand to flick it through his menu and change his Sub-class over to Apprentice [Fire Sage]. Several were startled by his actions and then eyes widened as he switched Sub-classes with a final tap.

"So he truly can call on the Memories of the Void." A stern looking man muttered to himself. The rest of the group seemed just as stunned into what amounted to a quite contemplation over his casual dynamic shift. "Well done, Tamamo, you found him faster than we thought you would. Welcome, Sage of the Void and Fire Raven Xanthus."

"Ah, you all may need to know my true name, to make you more comfortable," Raven said as he kept moving through the menu to a simple thing which he'd been using since before he'd left the tutorial island behind and removed it, "after all it wouldn't do to let you all think I was coming in under false pretenses." He gave a toothy grin as everyone started and a few chair were tipped over. Now that the Name-Tag had been removed his true name reveled. The Name-Tag was a quest item that could be worn to cover up your true name. It wasn't costly to get but you had to take a trip all the way back to the tutorial if you wanted one because that was the only location of the quest needed so when he'd remade his character he'd done the quest. "I chose to take up a more western name to help blend in over there," he waved in the direction of the harbor and the horizon beyond it, "you know how they can be."

"Indeed Lord Bing," said one man as he stared at the updated name-tag, proving to the Adventurer that they could see the changes like he could, "we thought that we'd lost the legendary White Tiger of the West years ago."

"Ah, in a way you have," the Adventurer said as he sat himself down at the wide table, "I learned that there was a better way to live life so I reset my own experiences." A good way to say you deleted the character so you could do a full respec. "The path isn't often taken; a bit drastic in the eyes of those like me, but it is available to us if we meet certain…. prerequisites." He knew what they were seeing. It was what he'd originally intended for his name to be before he chose to use a western name for the exotic feel that it had. But what they now saw was the name of a level ninety character that had once been declared the White Tiger of the West.

**Jian Bing**

**Race: Half-Alv**

**Class: Monk Lv. 32**

**Title: Sage of the Void Lv. 20**

**Sub-Class: Apprentice [Fire Sage] Lv. 35**

**Guild: Lost Canvas [Seated-Member]**

"So you chose to come back again with more knowledge of how to live your life and yet you still came back as a blighted child." One man said with heat entering his voice. Jian leveled his gaze upon the man and he flinched as the monk instinctively activated Soul Blaze, a buff from the Fire Sage skills that slowly enhance the stats of the welder but also dealt damage over time. Flame the color of spilt blood flowed off him and he nearly activated Sacrificial Bonfire on the raciest before catching himself and toggling the buff off with a simple thought. He shook his head to clear it from the rage that had nearly lead him to sending the raciest straight to the Cathedral. The council seemed to be close to blind panic with his actions so he sighed and spoke up.

"To feel spite thrown upon you as a child. To not know your parents for they left you to the world to hunger and hopefully die." The entire council was flinching at the speech that flowed from his lips as easily as spent air. He felt the emotions for a moment, no longer distant and each a new vivid color of suffering. "Yes to become a better man I chose to shirk the easy grace of a Were-cat and take up the mantel of the hated race. I chose to suffer to temper my soul, and it seems that such an experience has taken its toll on my control. I'm sorry for the interruption, but I will not allow such a raciest comment to slide." He pulled deeper into himself as he fought the instincts that told him he should have the man suffer for the faux pas. With how difficult it was the man within the Adventurer was a little afraid of finding out how deep he could have slipped into the White Tiger had the action not gone so far against his own normal response. "Let us continue."

"Right," Tamamo said as she chanced a glare at the man who'd thrown off the cordial environment, "we have much to discuss, Lord Bing."

"I am no mans Lord," Jian said as he glanced about the council and noted that their average level was low twenties other than three major outliers but even those higher numbers didn't make it above forty-five at their best which meant that out of all the people here Tamamo was the strongest, "just call me Raven, it is the name that I've become accustomed to over these years." He then replaced the name-tag.

"Alright," the Fox-Tail said with a smile that shook his guard, "now could you tell us what has the Adventurers so," she paused a moment and took her time phrasing it, "active lately."

"We recently came in contact with a spell beyond even our own understanding of magic." Raven said easily, "It has brought what once was a distant relationship of mind and body closer than ever before. It is quite the dangerous time for us as of now. We have always had the distance of mind and body to buffer us from the more…. dangerous rigors of the reincarnation cycle we partake in." He grinned at the way everyone nodded at his cover story. They hadn't called his bluff, though he was glad that the words just came to him as long as he kept the aloof role that he'd given the character a long time ago. "As it is we're still recovering from our minds being manipulated in such a way. Some of us are recovering at astounding rates and others are taking much longer. Some may even go mad from the experience."

"Thank you for this information," Tamamo replied before muttering to herself, "now is the worst possible time for something like this to occur."

"Oh," Raven felt the words shape in his head and he went with the flow, "are you speaking of the factions of rebel forces that are currently organizing across the Dukedom, I'd heard rumors of such but did not believe it."

"Well believe it," said a man with the markings of the Race of Ritual across his bare chest and face, "the Duke was slain as of this morning." His eyes were distant and Raven felt his heart throb as he realized something. "The center of the Dukedom is gone and now the Old Clans are going to rip the Dukedom to shreds in their bid to recreate old Yamato in their own ideal." The man sighed and took a sip of a cup of tea that was handed to him by a maid who was slowly making her rounds. "The Rebellion itself was going to happen in the next six to eighteen years, by then the Duke would've shut it down with aid from the four cities, but now the Rebels are going to suddenly recruit whomever they can and flock to a new Lord. Any banner is acceptable to them even that monster Nobunaga is going to have more sacrifices for the pits."

Raven winched at that. Nobunaga was often demonized in Media these days and Elder Tale had a very dangerous Lander to take that role. Nobunaga was a monster among the Landers, as he gained levels like an adventurer over the length of the raid just like the other Twelve Lords. Raven remembered the time Nobunaga had gained over twenty levels during the Twelve Color Rebellion. He'd been there to see the Demon Lord of the Sixth Heaven tear a Legion Raid nearly to pieces before the leading guilds had slammed down so many crowd control and stuns on the man that he was still under multiple effects by the time the on-site resection spells had recouped the losses. Other than his personal power there was the fact that the army under Nobunaga was formed of Landers sacrificed ritually in pits to reform as the Corrupted and masses of Oni and Genma that he brought forth using his unique classes ability Break the Chains of Jigoku.

"Yes quite a disturbing thought," the elderly man continued unheeding of the thoughts whispering through the monks mind, "which brings up the situation that we, as one of the ruleing bodies of Iyo, have been put in."

Raven's mind flickered back to the story behind Yamato. The occupation of the Western Landers had overtaken most of the land, but in some places such as the Four-Land Dukedom the old traditions of the old country still survived. It had been a good way to explain the dense pocket of Japanese culture that was the Dukedom back when the game was just that, but now that the world was real and Raven doubted that he could go back he had to think of the political side of such a culture coup. The Duke had kept a tenous grasp on the old clans by convincing them to hold together and grow in the old style culture while fighting off the monsters. Basically he'd pointed them at a foe they could all agree on and gave them freedom of religion as long as they complied with the Western rule. Raven knew that such a thing wouldn't settle well with anyone, but it had worked as such for years.

"The Priests of the Thirteen Shrines of the Sacred Pattern were slain in the same way, kunai through the eyes," the elder had continued to speak throughout the monks internal monologue, "the Priestesses were then ritually carved with various sigils and then defiled for several hours at a time before being slain via the removal of the womb."

"Removal of the womb." Raven repeated feeling quite green. He took a sip of his tea and wished desperately that he had a gallon of strong cherry blossom sake to burn the image he'd just been told out of his head. "What sort of monster would do this?"

"The Shadow's Hand," Tamamo said quietly and all the council made warding gestures, "they are a group that has been tainted with the blood of monsters. One of Nobunaga's old experiments that has since been left to run free while he continues his bid for the Imperial Mandate." She shudded in revulsion and fear mixed together. "They have their own agendas now but one of their main focuses is to undermine the stability of Yamato as a nation. They aren't strong enough to challenge the massive amounts of Adventurers that are on the main-land but they are able to strike here. So, they do so often."

"Ah," Raven said as he remembered the beings that the council was blaming this all on and he could see what they thought, "but their monster-blood should have kept them from entering the town so long as the barrier was up."

"Indeed," the elderly man said and then he glanced up, "it couldn't have been the Shadow's Hand they can't enter the cities outer wall whilst the Sacred Pattern was in motion."

"Then how," an elderly woman wearing a kimono began, "would such an event occur?"

Raven thought back to the siege quest-line and realized that it had always been a Lander Assassin named Death God who'd ritualistically killed those Lander's during the quests. He was about to say as such but then the image of the Hassan came up. It wouldn't be hard to imagine All the World's Evils had done this as well as set off the War, but he had to think that it was just the quest-line failing, after all how would they know exactly how to defile the priestesses and kill the priests in such a horrific manner. There was no place in the fluff that went into the details of the murders except that they were ritually done to break the Sacred Pattern.

"It would have to have been either a Person of the Land or an Adventurer," he said finally as he didn't want to seem like a dick for throwing the People of the Land under the bus for this one, "either one would have to be of dark inclinations to do such as this, I can think of few among our ranks, but they mostly keep to slaying other Adventurers. Of the People of the Land I can only guess at. An Assassin perhaps?"

"The known Adventurers who'd do this are many but only a few make their place here in Iyo, and thus have easy access to the Temples." A silvery haired wolf-hair spoke up from his seat as he kept his eyes closed in quiet contemplation. "The Black Guilds known as the Infernal and the Abyssal are both fronts for more dangerous, though often smaller guilds such as the Yomi and Never-born respectively." He paused a moment as the other Landers nodded their heads before adding. "These Guilds are all rumored to have a connection to the Black Guild All the World's Evils."

"Black Guild's I've not heard the term before." Raven said as he glanced about the table.

"A Lander term," Tamamo said slowly, "to represent those who lack the qualities of a Hero and thus are labeled as a Villain by the Landers." She sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "As long as they do their duty as an Adventurer the magic that aids them doesn't fade, but they are typically the worst sort. Nobunaga often has them raze villages and other deeds such as that can be attributed to those in Black Guilds."

"I see," and he did in truth see that the People of the Land were affected by the Adventurers so much that a part of their culture was made around dealing with them whilst Adventurers themselves had not developed such a thing, "this makes sense. I assume you'll need we Adventurers to go to Awa like the last time. I will be more than willing to go, perhaps I can even get some of my fellows in Lost Canvas to aid as well."

"Ah," Tamamo perked up at the good news, "will the great Benihime be there as well. I've never actually gotten to speak with a Youxia for an extended period and I'd love to trade theories about reinforcement magic and its uses in battle."

"Alas no she will not be able to come." He replied as he took in the looks of hope that crossed their faces. Was one woman, albeit a woman of astounding strength, enough to grant them confidence in the face of such outstanding odds. "She returned to the lands of her birth to learn more of her peoples ways. She does it often enough, but this last trip was special." Going on a level ninety raid which had a special drop for the native classes of China wasn't easy to explain so he hedged around it. "It will be quite some time before she can get here. This is my proposal," he suddenly said as the others had begun to lose the light they'd had moments before, "I wish to go to Awa and speak with the Magic Association there, I have ties with them as a practicing member of the White Tiger of the West's style even if I am not who I once was. With my reputation as Raven I should be able to convince them to throw their power behind the same Lord as us. Then we, the Adventurers of Iyo, will need to gather ourselves and begin training for the war. With each city having a group of better than average Adventurers we'll be able to fight off the other armies from making our lives a living hell."

"A solid plan that leaves us strictly in your debt." A man with a blindfold across his eyes interjected with a cold tone. He wore a gi under a large trech-coat of strange cloth. His obsidian hair had thick veins of silver in it and he sounded the age of an elderly man in his mid-fifties with experances that had aged him twice over. "I am uncomfortable relying so much on the abilities of the Adventurers who have suffered such set-back so recently as well."

"A fair deal would have you send a represeitive to aid in the negotiations and then donate your own warriors in the battles to come, a result I'd thought inevidable and thus I didn't wish to insult. I merely was going over what you all would gain from us. Besides," he pinned them all with a glare to better put weight to his next words, "I have a better time thinking that the Adventurers should be the ones who do battle. After all we have more than one life to live."

**A.N. Dear me that took a little while but at just under six-thousand words [5,757 to be exact before AN] this is a big one. Establishing characters and such is going to take a while and Lost Canvas itself is spread pretty thin right now, as can be seen by a low-level but high experience character taking over for now. We get to see some strange things and Raven now knows that Landers don't re-spawn. So, quite a few tactics go bye-bye. Oh and don't expect the same actions as Shiore from Raven. Raven doesn't even think about buying property, the only property is the Tower he got from an event so that avenue isn't even an afterthought. He is trying to do what he personally can with resources as he sees them. So expect a more personal level of influence that will slowly evolve into a greater strength, but will it be fast enough with all the the challenges ahead… we'll see.**

**On the subject of Role-Played characters it should be known that the deeper the portrayal the more easily the instincts of the Adventurer will come. I actually base this on the fact that out of the Log Horizon group it is Akatsuki is a Role-Player, even now that she's trapped in this world she portrays herself as the Ninja Akatsuki instead of her true self, and seemingly had no trouble harnessing the blinding speed once she'd returned to her smaller form. This is, however, a double-edged sword as once the portrayal passes a point the character of the Adventurer is still a part of who the Adventurer is even after the Player enters the equation. I hoped to create a dynamic between Raven who is a Player and thinks like one and the White Tiger of the West a character who has Reincarnated once already, thus had to adapt to these feelings before, and has pages of forum stories devoted to his life.**

**I hope I cleared up a few ambiguous parts that I just don't know how to allude to better. **


End file.
